The Bermuda Triangle

[Putte]

Disclaimer: I used an article in a Swedish science magazine for most of the reference in this article. While doing some additional research, I've found a few contradictive facts. However, I think the point of the article goes by undamaged. Also know that I had to translate a lot of the information into English from another language, so some words or terms used might not be correct. This goes especially for the ranks and words used in the part about Flight 19. Also, the accuracy of the conversations in that part might be wrong, but again - the big picture remains the same.

Another source used: Wikipedia

The area in the waters to the east of Florida, with Puerto Rico and Bermuda as its edges, is called The Bermuda Triangle. Here, boats go missing without explanation. Here, planes crash without leaving any traces. Here, power outside of human understanding rules.

Or is it all just a fake?

People have always been fascinated with things we can't explain. And sometimes, we need more than reality to make life exciting enough. Who doesn't like a good fictional novel, that makes you think beyond the dull average life?

But in the twilight zone between reality and imagination, there is room for explaining events with fascinating explanations, where the truth is actually much simpler and more mundane.

This is how a lot of today's myths and conspiracy theories were created. Roswell, Area 51, the Philadelphia Experiment, and many more.

The Bermuda Triangle is one of the strangest of these myths. In most cases, there is an event of some kind to preceed the actual myth. However, when it comes to the Bermuda Triangle, it is mostly the work of one person. Others added bits and pieces to the story, which all seemed to show that there is something fishy going on in the waters outside of Florida.

The Myth Arises

The story about the scary triangle got its breakthrough by a man named Vincent Gaddis. Gaddis published a newspaper article in 1964, in which he declared that a lot of ships had gone missing in the waters to the east of Florida. Others had mentioned the area before, but Gaddis created the phrase "Bermuda Triangle", as he imagined a triangle, with its corners in Florida, Puerto Rico and Bermuda. He gave the area its name, and then ventured into speculations about ships and planes missing in the area. According to Gaddis, the disappearings were of such nature, that everything seemed to prove there were forces of some unknown kind in action in the area.

Gaddis had people after him that all did their part in spreading and enhancing the story. In 1974, Charles Berlitz published his book "The Bermuda Triangle", which really boosted the fame of the whole story. The popularity of the book was largely due to the writing style of Berlitz, and his ability to dramatize, and make it exciting. During the following years, he kept the book sales alive by bringing out new facts about the triangle into the open.

The Pyramid

In a sequel, Berlitz revealed he had gained the knowledge of a huge pyramid, located on the bottom of the sea somewhere inside the Bermuda Triangle. He didn't want to reveal the exact location, because he was afraid the sea explorer Jacques Cousteau would examine it before Berlitz himself would have time to finance an expedition.

The pyramid on the bottom of the sea naturally sparked all kinds of theories of what was really there. The pyramid was supposed to have secret powers, and it was thought to be the reason for all the disappearances. Some theories stated that it was the sunken Atlantis that had been found. Berlitz, for whatever reason, never revealed the location of the pyramid.

Flight 19

One of the most famous and astonishing disapperances is the one of Flight 19, a group of five bombers on a training flight. In his book, Berlitz explains that the pilots were all experts, who disappered, after seeing some visual anomalies. He also wrote that the planes in question, TBM Avengers, was constructed to float for a long time, if having to land on water.

After performing a practice attack on a ship, the planes headed home, to Ft. Lauderdale. But right before the planes arrived at their base, the flight commander, Charles Taylor, contacted flight control:

-This is an emergency. We seem to be off course. We can't see land...

Flight control in Ft Lauderdale asks Taylor for their position. The answer makes things even more mysterious:

-We are not sure of our position. We are not sure where we are. We seem to be lost.

To this, flight control advised for them to head west.

-We don't know which way west is right now. Everything is wrong - it's so strange - we can't figure out any directions. Even the sea doesn't look like it's supposed to.

In that very moment, chief instructor Robert Cox is coming in to land. He had overheard the conversation and called for Taylor:

-Flight 19, what is your altitude? I will head south and meet you.

The reply takes some time, after which Taylor says:

-Don't come here, it looks like...

After that, silence.

A large recon operation was initiated immediately. But several days later, they were forced to give up, without finding any planes, or parts.

Reality Is Revealed

Lawrence Kusche, a librarian with Arizona State University at the time, became interested in the story of the Bermuda Triangle. He started investigating every single case in the books about the triangle, especially Berlitz's book.

Piece by piece, he dismantled the whole story. A lot of the events did take place, but in very different locations around the globe. In some cases, like the Norwegian ship Stavanger, which supposedly took several hundered people's life, it was revealed that neither ship nor accident ever existed.

When it comes to Flight 19, Kusche showed that Berlitz hadn't been very exact with his facts. According to him, he based his story on personal notes, written down by the chief commander of Ft Lauderdale, RH Wirshing.

Wirshing had a completely different story. He didn't take notes, simply because he was not on duty until the day after Flight 19 disappeared.

The compasses that reportedly went nuts while flying, had had the same problem since way back. And when it comes to Lt Taylor's comment to Robert Cox, "Don't come here, it looks like...", it seems Berlitz had edited it to better serve its dramatic purpose. The truth is that Taylor said:

-Don't come here and meet us. It looks like we are on the right track now. We know where we are.

Investigations in the accident brought forth a pretty clear picture on what had happened. All the pilots, except for Taylor, were inexperienced. After the practice attack, they flew in the wrong direction, lost orientation, and had to look for a piece of land which could give information on where they were. Taylor believed, after finding some islands, that he was on the right course. He wasn't, however, and the group's fuel didn't last for a long flight across the water. And with non-stop jamming from Cuban radio transmitters, it wasn't unusual for radio communication to be bad. The group had simply been forced to land on the water, and later investigations have shown that an Avenger sinks in less than a minute.

Kusche kept controlling every piece of "evidence", step by step. It turned out that ships that reportedly had gone down in calm weather, had really sunk during storms. After Kusche was done, there were not a lot of unexplained facts left. Kusche published his discoveries in the book "The Bermuda Triangle Mystery: Solved".

The Fight

Kusche's book sparked a long fight between Berlitz and himself. Berlitz accused Kusche for not having enough in-depth knowledge about the triangle, and not having made any research on the spot. Kusche wondered what he was supposed to do there, as all the logs, reports and investigations were easily available through his library.

Kusche also thought Berlitz could have read the factual reports that were available, instead of basing his book on earlier books, hearsay, and finally spicing it up with his own imagination.

Kusche's book put an end to a lot of the hysteria around the Bermuda Triangle. But as with so many other cases, the Bermuda Triangle had become a myth that people wanted to believe in. However, amongst the true believers of the Bermuda Triangle, Kusche is accused of having written his book by assignment from the government, or the military.

As far as Berlitz goes, none of his following books reached the popularity that his first book gained.

Triangles Around The Globe

The myth about the Bermuda Triangle still exists today, and a lot of the followers are still waiting for Berlitz's underwater pyramid to be found once again.

Other authors have launched their own triangles around the world. Still, however, nobody has been able to prove that more ships or planes disappear in any specific area than any other. On the contrary, it seems that the number of disappearing ships are pretty evenly divided throughout the world, with consideration taken to the number of ships inhibiting the area, naturally.

[F. Mulder]

It definatly exists

[Johnsy]

I heard it was somthing to do with excess gas- methane i believe which makes the water less dense and so boats sink etc.

[Putte]

It definatly exists

599353[/snapback]

Based on what? As I wrote in the article, nobody has ever been able to prove that more ships or planes disappear in the Bermuda Triangle, than anywhere else.

I heard it was somthing to do with excess gas- methane i believe which makes the water less dense and so boats sink etc.

599367[/snapback]

True, some people think so. And there's more info on that here.

However, scientists are split in this question as well. Some say that it can hypothetically cause a ship to sink, while "A geologist from the USGS states that although it is possible for a gas release to cause a ship to sink, he does not believe this has resulted in sinking of ships in the Bermuda Triangle".

[Putte]

The triangles have something to do with Atlantis aka The Garden of Eden, although I'm not exactly sure what there purpose was for at this time, other than the theory of reservoirs since the triangle is also a water symbol.

600078[/snapback]

If you read the article, you'll see that a pyramid that was "found" there was supposedly from Atlantis. However, the location of the pyramid was never revealed (most likely because it didn't exist). Also, there are no proof that Atlantis ever existed either.

i heard on the science channel that they proved there was excess methane in the bermuda triangle... anyone else seen that show?

600252[/snapback]

I've heard a few who also saw the show. I didn't see it myself though. The theories about methane gas is mentioned on the link at the beginning of the article.

[Hans Dolbrook]

i think the methane theory is a plausable one.methane can't sink ships,but the wave it causes sure can,and an explosion of methane powerful enough could surely bring down a plane.some of the vanishings have explanations not too hard to believe,like planes instruments malfunctioning and the planes running out of fuel.some are just plain weird though.something strange is going on out there though.

Edited May 1, 2005 by openmind1963

[_Nyx_]

Here's some info I found on an unexplained anomalies site: this is kinda "out there" as far as theories go.....

The "Bermuda Triangle" and an area in the Pacific ocean, has long been associated with "missing aircrafts, watercrafts and people." Anything caught in this yet unexplainable phenomenon, vanishes forever. Where do they go? The disappearance of people along with their craft, is "trapped in-between time dimensions," of which there is "no way out." These disappearances are accidental and not intentional. The victims were in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

The "Bermuda Triangle" is one of two portals, used by the "human-like" aliens, to travel from their planet to ours. The "Bermuda Triangle" is not actually a triangle. When it is "in-phase," it is constantly in motion and in intensity (between one to one and a half mile wide). The disappearances occur when caught in the center or within the first two outward radiating rings.

The occurrence takes place 25 times a year and lasts for 28 minutes, for the "Bermuda Triangle." The "Pacific Triangle," takes place only 3 times a year. The "Bermuda and the Pacific Triangles" are linked to other triangles that exist throughout the universe. The "human-like" aliens technology enable them to use "time compression, solar power and the ability to reduce friction," for travelling across vast distances. It takes them approximately 24 hours to travel from their planet to Earth.

These "time holes" can be described as an "accordion in motion." When the "time hole" is compressed, the craft enters one end and when the "time hole" expands itself, the craft is at the opposite end exiting one "time hole" and entering another. The "human-like" aliens know exactly which "time hole" is compressed, at any given time.

[LarryOldtimer]

i think the methane theory is a plausable one.methane can't sink ships,but the wave it causes sure can,and an explosion of methane powerful enough could surely bring down a plane.some of the vanishings have explanations not too hard to believe,like planes instruments malfunctioning and the planes running out of fuel.some are just plain weird though.something strange is going on out there though.

600303[/snapback]

Objects, like ships, float because they displace their weight in water before they are completely submerged. Objects which sink can't displace enough water because they are heavier than water the water they displace. Air, methane, or any other gas which bubbled up in large quantities could easily cause the area around the floating object to be sufficiently less dense that the weight of the mixture displaced by the floating object (previously floating in water) would be less than the weight of the floating object, causing the object to sink. It is the fact that a mixture of water and gas bubbles has considerably less density than just water alone.

[Putte]

Here's some info I found on an unexplained anomalies site: this is kinda "out there" as far as theories go.....

600453[/snapback]

"Out there" might be the understatement of today

Thanks for sharing

[Shaftsbury]

i think the methane theory is a plausable one.methane can't sink ships,but the wave it causes sure can,and an explosion of methane powerful enough could surely bring down a plane.some of the vanishings have explanations not too hard to believe,like planes instruments malfunctioning and the planes running out of fuel.some are just plain weird though.something strange is going on out there though.

600303[/snapback]

Objects, like ships, float because they displace their weight in water before they are completely submerged. Objects which sink can't displace enough water because they are heavier than water the water they displace. Air, methane, or any other gas which bubbled up in large quantities could easily cause the area around the floating object to be sufficiently less dense that the weight of the mixture displaced by the floating object (previously floating in water) would be less than the weight of the floating object, causing the object to sink. It is the fact that a mixture of water and gas bubbles has considerably less density than just water alone.

600701[/snapback]

I saw a documentary on this a while back, they used a scale model of a frieghter and released a bubble underneath it, and it went down like a rock. You can also see the same sort of thing on offshore drilling platforms when there is a gas release under it.

As far as planes go, they also did a study where they introduced a tiny amount of methane to a plane engine air intake. The engine stalled as soon as the mixure reached 1% methane. Being lighter than air, it could certainly explain why some aircraft have gone missing.

[Undefined_innocence]

IVe always thought the Bermuda triangle was an amusng little tale.

My father passed through it several times and nothing ever happened out of the ordinairy.

[earthchick]

I remember reading a book a long time ago, in which it was said that both the Bermuda Triangle and The Devil's Triangle were highly magnetic areas under the ocean. Theory is that they were once the earth's magnetic poles. In this book, it was the magnetism that was pulling ships and planes under. I'm pretty certain, however, that the two triangles are not exactly opposite each other.

I'd be more inclined to believe the methane gas theory, but I don't think disappearances, if indeed there were any documented, were in the large numbers some of those theorists would like us to believe.

[Lord_Kazius]

Reality? Yes. Myth? Yes. My answer to this is simple the bermuda triangle does exist but does not live up to the hype its giving. It has been proven that the bermuda triangle "belches" up bubbles of methane gas which make the water less dense and cause ships to sink... they even went as far as to sink a ship to prove it. Also there is a top secret naval base, used to test new naval technologies, such like in the inccident where the chinese fishing boat was rammed by an unknown submarine. and as for planes, well theres only the one story and both planes werent the best around....in conclusion the bermuda triangle is just another natural occurence along with some goverment conspiracy, nothing paranormal about it....unless of course bigfoot takes a swim in it sometime...

[Lord_Kazius]

on the dissapearance comment... the ships "dissapeared" because the methane caused them too sink so fast. oh and one thing i forgot to mention, i watched a television program on discovery channel where they dived down and found the freigther that was "lost". and all the other smaller cases are due to ignorance and more then likely the same effects...

[LucidElement]

I just finished this new book that came out on the bermuda triangle, it was very interesting, it talked about all the different dissaperneces, the planes, the ships, that flew over or sailed over the triangle.. but still the most fascinating one is the dissapernce of Flight 19...

You can read on some sites the connection between the plane and the radar station.. how they talked and he was like what is happened, my compass dosent work, blah blah blah.. its actually really interesting.. this site right here will tell you of the myths or legends of all the dissaperences, i sure do believe some of them.. the latest one was in 1997!!...

http://www.bstar.net/bermudatriangle/

[Putte]

My answer to this is simple the bermuda triangle does exist but does not live up to the hype its giving. It has been proven that the bermuda triangle "belches" up bubbles of methane gas which make the water less dense and cause ships to sink...

Even so, there is not an increasing number of disappearing ships in this area, compared to any other highly populated sea.

Also there is a top secret naval base, used to test new naval technologies, such like in the inccident where the chinese fishing boat was rammed by an unknown submarine.

That brings out the obvious question... If it's secret, how do you know about it?

unless of course bigfoot takes a swim in it sometime...

603780[/snapback]

Word!

[marduk]

the bermuda triangle is in the busiest shipping lanes on earth.

if it was that much trouble people would go around n'est pas ?

also some of the triangle is on land. Pedestrians don't go missing

myth

time holes ??

dear oh dear

[The Roswell Man]

altho i have heard a story in a paranormal book about sum1 racing a horse and cart sumwhere, tripping on a stone and in full view of spectators disappearing...

not to mention 1815 case of a man in a prison disappearing in full view of inmates and guards in which the balls and chains fell off...

maybe these thing happenned in land triangles marduk??

[TheGuardian]

As someone said on page one there is magnetic interference from below the ocean, but I do not think it was an older polar location. I think a large meteor of some sort went down there at some point in time which consists of large quantitites of magnetic substances which cause equipment disturbances. Any other claimed oddities in the area I think are just coincidence. The meteor could possibly cause changes in other areas, but it's all theory. Maybe it's the same large meteor from 65 million years ago?

[The Roswell Man]

im not sure about that guardian but interesting point.

BTW, welcum to the forum

[marduk]

im not sure about that guardian but interesting point.

BTW, welcum to the forum  

604568[/snapback]

little bit off course for the yucatan isn't it ?

[The Roswell Man]

is it 100% certain yucatan is exactly 65mill years old?

[TheGuardian]

is it 100% certain yucatan is exactly 65mill years old?

604812[/snapback]

If there is one there it's definitely not the one ~65 mil years ago..I believe they linked that event to a crater around mexico? I was mostly just being stupid haha

Thanks for the welcome guys. I love all the types of discussions on these forums and I just discovered them. (pretty big SCI FIC-FACT person) Hope I can be a big contributor

[The Roswell Man]

im sure u will

[marduk]

im sure u will  

604887[/snapback]

I'm sure you will too

i just worry about what sort of contributions